Everything that the Borussia Dortmund players lacked in terms of clarity and determination in Wolfsburg was later made up for by their sports director in the interview zone.
Sebastian Kehl said his team played “arrogantly” at times in this 1-1 (1-0) draw at the Volkswagen Arena. “At one point or another there was too much hoe and tip for me.” The whole game was “let it run a bit”.
Now there are still a lot of managers in the Bundesliga who would like to swap places with Kehl and BVB’s situation. Because if you look at it soberly, last season’s almost champions are still in a Champions League place after a disappointing preliminary round and have not lost any of the six games of the new year.
“That is a very positive outcome. We are on the right track,” said Kehl. But the fact that this team doesn’t reach its performance limit more consistently, that the performances sometimes fluctuate greatly even within a game: that’s what bothers the former national player and BVB captain. And that’s why it felt to everyone as if Borussia had been slowed down again just three days before the important Champions League round of 16 at PSV Eindhoven (Tuesday, 9 p.m./Prime Video).
Nobody in Wolfsburg expressed this as clearly as Kehl. But no one contradicted the 44-year-old either. This applied to coach Edin Terzic (“We are neither satisfied with the result nor with the performance”). And also for national player Nico Schlotterbeck (“Regression is a big word. But of course we can play better football”).
Interruptions don’t play into BVB’s hands
The story of this afternoon also includes the fact that the numerous short interruptions in the game due to fan protests against the planned investor entry into the German Football League particularly affected BVB.
The favorite took the lead early on against a struggling but extremely aggressive “Wolves” through Niclas Füllkrug (8th minute). And the Wolfsburg team gained further courage, especially in the first half, with every short break and every conversation with their coach Niko Kovac. Yannick Gerhardt’s equalizer (64th minute) was deserved – and could have happened much earlier in this game.
BVB now required in Eindhoven
The Champions League game in Eindhoven now also has a certain risk of stumbling for a sometimes fickle team like Borussia. In the preliminary round, they surprisingly left much more well-known and financially stronger clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United behind. At least on paper, the leaders of the Dutch Eredivisie seem like the most grateful opponents of the entire international season so far.
Of course Kehl doesn’t want to know anything about it. “We did a lot to reach the next round in this difficult group and we deserve it,” he said. “But we know that Eindhoven is a very strong team. They haven’t lost a game this year. That makes them extremely uncomfortable, especially at home. If you don’t perform in these two games, then you’re out. We need two right good performance.”
Donyell Malen, who was once signed for 30 million euros from Eindhoven, was missing from BVB in Wolfsburg due to knee problems. But he should be fit again by the Champions League game against his former club. From Dortmund’s perspective, this is the best news of an otherwise disappointing Bundesliga afternoon.
